Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators

BGM represents clients with diverse interests on issues arising from their participation in or transactions with regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and independent system operators (ISOs). We work almost daily on issues arising in markets operated by ISO New England Inc. (ISO-NE), PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM), and Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. (Midwest ISO).

We counsel clients on a wide array of regional issues, including:

• Market design;

• Scope of RTO services;

• Transfer of assets and responsibilities to the RTO;

• Transmission planning;

• Locational marginal cost issues;

• Rates of transmission owners and the transmission operator;

• Cost allocation for existing assets and new facilities;

• Transmission congestion and financial transmission rights;

• Individual facility interconnections and generic interconnection rules;

• Admission and withdrawal of transmission-owning members;

• Treatment of merchant transmission owners;

• Distinct requirements, rights and obligations for direct current (DC) merchant transmission lines;

• Innumerable tariff and contract issues; and

• “Cross-border” issues between RTOs and between RTOs and non-RTO transmission providers.

BGM was involved in the development of RTOs and ISOs in California, New England, and the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Southwest and Southeast regions of the country. We helped to design and implement the original framework and documentation for the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and the California Power Exchange (CalPX). Following its inception, we served as CalPX’s FERC regulatory counsel, facilitating numerous market and tariff changes. We were among a handful of law firms involved in high stakes discussions at the federal level on issues surrounding the 2000-2001 “California energy crisis” and we continue to represent the CalPX in complex FERC and court proceedings to unravel the impacts of that market failure.

Although there is no RTO in the Southeast, we did considerable conceptual and regulatory work on regional options for that area on behalf of our clients. Similarly, in the upper Midwest portion of the country, we represented a consortium of public utilities, rural electric cooperatives and government-owned utilities that were attempting to develop a regional transmission tariff administered by an independent transmission service coordinator. We also have represented non-RTO clients in negotiations with RTOs to permit their participation in the RTO energy markets and to establish appropriate balancing area services across the RTO boundaries.